My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Brown’s bat and glove leads the Phils to a road series win over the fish as the Phils defeat the Marlins, 7-2.

Knocking in three runs with his bat, while gunning down a runner at home with his glove, Dom Brown help leads the Phils to a 7-2 win over the Marlins, for the Phils first road win since they took two of three from the Yankees back in June.

After an almost hour long rain delay, the Phils took the lead in the first as, with two men on, and with two men out, Ross Gload hits an RBI single, scoring Placido Polanco, who had earlier singled and then moved up to second on Anibal Sanchez’s wild pitch, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead, while sending Raul Ibanez, who had earlier walked, on to second base. One batter later, with two men still on base, and with still two men out, Dom Brown hits an RBI single, scoring Ibanez, making it a 2-0 Phils’ lead, while sending Gload to third, while Brown would move up to second on the unsuccessful throw to the plate. The Marlins tried to get back into the game in their half of the first as, with runners on the corners, via singles to Logan Morrison and Gaby Sanchez, with G. Sanchez’s single sending Morrison to third, and with one man out, Dan Uggla hits a fly ball to right, which was not deep. Morrison, after Brown had caught the ball for the inning’s second out, decided not to test Brown’s arm, which was a smart move as Brown threw a one bounce strike to home, which was caught by Carlos Ruiz. Kyle Kendrick then got out of the inning by getting Cody Ross to hit into a force out, 5-4, forcing out G. Sanchez at second base. The Marlins then cut the Phils’ lead in the second as Mike Stanton hits a lead-off home run, his tenth home run of the year, making it a 2-1 Phils’ lead. The Marlins then tried to tied the game up at two-all in the third as, with G. Sanchez on second, via a double, and with two men out, Uggla hits a single to right. Brown, after picking up the ball, threw a one bounce strike to the plate, throwing out G. Sanchez, as Ruiz blocks the plate, before applying the tag, ending the inning with the Phils’ still leading 2-1. The Phils then proceeded to add to their lead in the fifth as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Ibanez hits an RBI single, scoring Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier singled, and had gone to second on Polanco’s single, giving the Phils a 3-1 lead, while sending Polanco to second, before he would move up to third on the late throw to the plate, while Ibanez would move up to second. The Phils then took a 4-1 lead as, with the bases now loaded, as Gload is intentionally walked, and now with one man out, Brown hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Polanco. The Marlins would get a run back in their half of the fifth as, with two men on, and with two men out, G. Sanchez hits an RBI single, knocking in Hanley Ramirez, who had earlier singled, and moved up to second base on Morrison’s single, making it a 4-2 Phils’ lead, while sending Morrison, who had earlier singled, to third, before moving up to second on the throw home. Kendrick then got out of the inning as Rollins robbed Uggla of a hit by catching his line drive for the inning’s final out. The Phils then got that run back in the sixth as, with the bases loaded, via a double by Kendrick, a walk to Rollins and a walk to Polanco, moving both Kendrick and Rollins up a base, and with one man out, Ibanez hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Kendrick, making it a 5-2 Phils’ lead, while sending Rollins up to third base. The Phils then put the game out of reach in the ninth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Brown hits a grounder to Uggla, who threw to second, trying to force out Jayson Werth, who had earlier reached base on a single, but the ball went into left center field, allowing Ibanez, who had earlier singled, and had gone to second on Werth’s single, then reached third on Gload’s fly out, giving the Phils a 6-2 lead, while allowing Werth to reach third, while Brown was safe at first on the throwing error. One batter later, the Phils made it 7-2 as Ruiz hits an RBI single, scoring Werth, while sending Brown up to second base. That would be the final score as Brad Lidge pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

Kyle Kendrick got the win as he pitches six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, while striking out five. His record is now 7-4 with a 4.37 ERA. Jose Contreras receives his ninth hold of the year as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit. Ryan Madson receives his second hold as he also pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out two. Brad Lidge pitches a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out a batter. Anibal Sanchez took the lost as he pitches only four and a third innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, a wild pitch and three walks. His record is now 8-7 with a 3.50 ERA. Taylor Tankersley pitches two-thirds of an inning, getting out the two men whom he would face. Brian Sanches pitches a third of an inning, giving up a run on one hit and two walks. Will Ohman and Clay Hensley combine for two and two-thirds scoreless innings, giving up a walk (Hensley), while striking out two (Ohman), between them. Leo Nunez pitches an inning, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk.

The Phils had eleven hits in the game, with Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Raul Ibanez leading the team with two hits each, all singles, with Ibanez knocking in two runs, while both Polanco and Ibanez each scored two runs, while Rollins scored a run. Jayson Werth, Ross Gload, Dom Brown, Carlos Ruiz and Kyle Kendrick had the other five Phils’ hits, with Kendrick’s hit being the team’s only double. Gload and Ruiz both knocked in a run, while Brown knocked in three, one on a sac fly and the other on a throwing error. The bats, or at least most of them, are presently taking up the slack while Ryan Howard is on the disabled list. Hopefully, it’ll stay that way after he’s back.

The Phils (59-48, 2nd) will conclude their three-game series with the Marlins (53-54, 4th) with a night game tonight. The game will be played at Sun Life Stadium and will start at 7:10 pm Eastern. The Phils will send to the mound Roy Oswalt (0-1 (6-13), 6.00 (3.53)), who is coming off a lost to the Nationals on July 30, as he pitched six innings, giving up five runs, four of which were earned, on seven hits and two walks, while striking out four, in the Phils’ 8-1 lost. In his last three starts as both an Astro and a Phil, he is 0-3, as he pitched sixteen innings, giving up thirteen runs, twelve of which were earned, on twenty-three hits and three walks, while striking out twelve. He will be trying for his first win as a Phil and his first win in four starts. The Marlins will counter with Chris Volstad (5-8, 4.71), who is coming off a win against the Padres on July 30, as he went five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out one, in the Marlins’ 4-2 win. In his last three starts, he is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched fourteen innings, giving up ten runs on seventeen hits and nine walks, while striking out seven. He will be trying to keep the Marlins from being swept. The Phils will be going for the sweep tonight, hoping to cut the Braves’ lead in the East to a game and a half, as the Braves are off tonight.

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